I am Adrian Spiac, co-founder of TranslatePress & Cozmoslabs. We focus on building quality WordPress plugins while working 4 days/week (Fridays OFF).
I’ve been using WordPress for over 11 years now and launched our first WordPress product in 2011.
I’m currently living in Timisoara, Romania with my beautiful wife and our two amazing kids.
The Journey Began
Before graduating from university where I majored in Electronics & Telecommunications and specialized in Multimedia, I worked on a few projects with Cristian (one of my co-founders) and we clicked. We then decided to start a web development agency together and that’s how we discovered WordPress.
I think what hooked us with WordPress was its ease of use and the fact that it was open-source, well documented, and with a growing community around it. This made it really simple to build quite complex websites that even non-technical people could manage and keep updated. So, quite naturally WordPress became our main focus.
The Need for TranslatePress
TranslatePress Logo
TranslatePress is our latest product, a WordPress translation plugin that anyone can use.
Since there were quite a few multilingual plugins out there before we launched TranslatePress, our goal was to create the most beginner-friendly translation plugin for WordPress.
Using its visual translation interface, you can simply translate everything you see, directly from the front-end, and see changes in real-time. It’s a “page builder for translations”, as someone called it.
TranslatePress in Action
TranslatePress is currently powering close to 100,000+ active websites and growing steadily. However, launching and growing a new translation plugin in an overly crowded space (with a lot of popular multilingual plugins) was quite a challenge.
Unfortunately, these days it’s more and more difficult for new plugins to stand out. Due to the WordPress market maturing, we’re getting closer to a winner takes it all scenario.
Looking back, what really helped us grow TranslatePress was how much we believed in the product and the pain it solves. So we allocated more and more resources into spreading the word and kept at it. People that played with it instantly “got it” once they saw the visual translation editor at work.
Of course, this was all possible by using the resources from Cozmoslabs, the umbrella for all our premium plugins. I would say that each of our products funded the development of the next one.
It all started with Profile Builder, our all in one user registration and profile solution, which then led to WordPress Creation Kit, and then to our fully-fledged membership plugin: Paid Member Subscriptions.
The revenue from Profile Builder allowed us to transition from a WordPress development agency to building and supporting our own products.
Selling our own products eventually led to us being able to work only 4 days/week (and enjoying a 3 days weekend), while also seeing constant growth in our sales.
A 4-day workweek won’t work without a responsible team, focused on results. You need to prioritize better and stick to what matters.
The extra free day will give you more rest, a better perspective on your business, and what can be improved. And well… more time to spend with your family, friends, or practice your hobbies.
We’ve been doing this for more than 6 years now and there’s no turning back. I encourage every WordPress business to at least experiment with a variation of the above and see how it goes.
Myself with my Brilliant Team
Team Cozmoslabs
Part of the Cozmoslabs team, at WordCamp Europe in Berlin (2019)
Adrian Spiac Workplace (WFH)
Advice for Business Owners
Start a blog, grow a community, create an audience first. Notice what they struggle with and come up with a potential solution. Iterate based on feedback.
They’ll tell you what to build.
If you’re already part of a community, have an audience, and are experienced in a certain field, don’t try to tackle a completely different niche just because people tell you it’s better or more profitable.
Leverage all your existing resources and knowledge. Don’t chase rainbows.
Stay in Touch
WordPress & Beyond
I don’t think WordPress is going anywhere anytime soon. Quite the opposite. I see it gathering more and more market share over the coming years.
That doesn’t mean the WordPress ecosystem and its dynamics won’t change. With more and more big players entering the WordPress arena, I think that in order to not only survive but thrive, WordPress product businesses will need to build sustainable business models.
It’s pretty clear that selling subscriptions are a key part of this sustainability, so I expect it to become the norm. For this to work really well, I think your product will have to deliver constant, long term value to justify the recurring cost.
This is something we think about constantly when it comes to our products.
My Love for the WordPress Community
We’ve been attending and sponsoring quite a few WordCamps in the last couple of years and will continue to do so. It’s just a great place to be. It’s hard to imagine the WordPress community without WordCamps.
For our company, WordCamps are also great team-building opportunities. We normally travel with the whole team and spend those days doing things together.
Unfortunately, this year will be different due to the restrictions. I am however looking forward to attending our first WordCamp Europe online, where I encourage you to come by our virtual TranslatePress booth and say hi.
How I Keep Myself Updated
wpMail.me helps me stay up to date with everything that’s going on in the WordPress space (on a weekly basis).
Besides this, I enjoy reading The Repository, listening to podcasts, as well as browsing blogs like WP Tavern, CodeinWP, Kinsta, and more.
I Have a Life Other Than the Work
I love spending as much time as I can with my family. Having kids really showed me how time flies, so being present and cherishing these quickly passing moments does the trick for me.
One of my biggest passions is professional fishing. I enjoy being in nature and figuring out ways to catch (and release) predator fish using artificial lures. It’s something I’ve been doing since I was a little kid.
I’ve attended close to a hundred fishing tournaments in the past 10 years, won our National Championship twice as well as traveled to different countries to attend the World Championship in Fishing. You might say I’m quite addicted to it. 🙂
Besides fishing, I enjoy basketball, meditating, and reading.
Connect With Me
I’m always happy to chat with like-minded people, so just email me at adrian[at]cozmoslabs.com.
